The IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is a framework that allows companies to use web-based operating systems and applications without having to develop and/or acquire their own infrastructure in the cloud, as this can be excessively complex and costly for some companies.

The IaaS market, like the SaaS markets (Software as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) has a high growth potential, as it is a relatively new sector and closely linked to technological development.

Even so, as in many other sectors that we have already analysed in other posts, within the IaaS sector there are some companies that have achieved a large volume of sales and market share. Baker Tilly has analysed two of them: Cisco and Rackspace.

CISCO

Cisco Systems, Inc. is a US multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in Silicon Valley. Its business focuses on the development, production and distribution of hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-tech products and services.

Today it is listed on the NASDAQ and is included in the NASDAQ-100, S&P 500, S&P 100 and Russell 1000 indices, with a market capitalisation of approximately USD 170 billion.

Cisco has quickly become one of the largest companies in the IaaS industry, with 2018 sales of $51.9 billion, assets valued at $100 billion and more than 76,000 employees worldwide. In addition, it has gained a large market share thanks to its countless acquisitions of companies in recent years: OpenDNS, Webex and Jabberfor example.

RACKSPACE

Rackspace Inc. is another of the most important companies in the IaaS sector, specifically in the area of Cloud Computing. This multinational company, also American, is headquartered in Windcrest, Texas.

Rackspace has two main lines of business - Cloud Servers and Dedicated Servers:

• Cloud Servers: virtual infrastructures to store and process information and applications.
• Dedicated servers: infrastructures designed and developed exclusively for the client, based on their characteristics and needs.

Unlike Cisco, Rackspace is a private company, i.e. it is not a listed company. However, it is also one of the most highly valued companies in the industry today. In total, it has made 12 acquisitionsthe most recent announced on 4 November 2019, was the purchase of Onica a company of "cloud consulting"and managed cloud services.

 ▶You may be interested in: IaaS: how it has been invested in over the last decade.